US national team star Landon Donovan has claimed that he is not sure whether he will be part of the final squad for the World Cup 2014. Ever since the LA Galaxy striker took a sabbatical from the game without informing US national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann, tensions have been growing between the duo. Donovan has gone from being one of the most important players in the US national team squad to the periphery in the last few years. Even though he has been named in the provisional squad for the World Cup 2014, Donovan has now claimed that he is not sure about his participation.
Hull city manager Steve Bruce has claimed that he would have no second thoughts about taking Ryan Giggs as a player next season. Giggs is out of contract at the end of the season and there have been suggestions that he will announce his retirement in order to focus on the managerial career.
Landon Donovan has revealed that he is not too concerned about the goals record that he is about to create in the MLS. The United States international is very close to scoring the 135th goal, which would make him top of the all-time list in the MLS records.
However, Donovan has revealed that he never knew about the record until it was brought up to him by the media. The LA Galaxy star, who came close to retiring from football at the start of last season, says that he is unlikely to be thinking about it when he steps onto the pitch next time.
The World Cup in Brazil is less than a hundred days away. The pinnacle of the football calendar is expected to draw TV audiences of over 3.2billion. And while we regular people will be tuning in to cheer on our national sides, there will be football managers sitting down with a pen and paper making a shopping list.
You see the World Cup is like an open-air market for talented players to turn the heads of bigger clubs. In 2010 the German contingent of Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira impressed no end, they were both snapped up by Real Madrid after the tournament.
Looking forward to the World Cup? The thrills, the spills, the tricks, the saves, the fans (and thankfully no vuvuzelas!)
We are too, and can't wait for it to get started in June. Until the action starts we're just going to be stuck with endless speculation and previews, and we probably love all this pre-match hype more than the actual games themselves!
We've teamed up with the guys at Betfair to see who you should all be looking out for on the pitch - these guys will add some 'bite' to the proceedings...